New Lenovo Smartphones To Run Stock Android, Not Vibe Pure UI

Lenovo has confirmed that all of its future smartphones will ship with stock Android. Until now, the Chinese original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has continued to sell its smartphones with its custom Vibe Pure UI overlay, while its Motorola smartphones have consistently avoided any software modifications. Now, though, Lenovo has confirmed that its smartphones will be following in the steps of Motorola by shipping with pure Android straight out of the box.

The Chinese company has confirmed that the decision has been a long time coming. Over the past 11 months, Lenovo has been looking at its software and has taken into account all of the consumer feedback it has received. From the looks of things, it was clear to the company that many of its customers preferred the stock Android experience, hence the decision to switch to clean Android builds. Lenovo has confirmed it will make a few minimal modifications, similar to what Motorola does with its Android experience, in order to allow its smartphones to take advantage of technologies such as Dolby Atmos and TheaterMax. Other than that, the software will ship without customizations. Although the switch may seem like a no-brainer to many, the company has stated that the Chinese market prevented the change from being an easy one. Custom UI's are much more popular in the Far Eastern country, but Lenovo has been pushing hard for the change to be made. After all, by switching all of its devices to stock Android, their updating practices should be much quicker and efficient, while devices will also be supported for longer, not to mention the fact that they should run smoother than they previously did. Aside from those advantages, features such as Google's Assistant should also be supported by future devices from Lenovo.

With the change, the company also confirmed that its upcoming K8 Note, which is due to launch next week in India, will be its first smartphone to ship with a clean OS, running Android 7.1.1 Nougat. In the Indian market, consumers consistently prefer the stock Android experience, so the change should also make the device more appealing to many when it launches.